Marketing’s role is rarely defined by a strategy document in B2B organizations. It is defined by the expectations that executive leadership places on the function. B2B leaders rarely document those expectations. Instead, they embed them in budget decisions, planning processes, reporting structures, performance metrics, and everyday interactions between marketing and its peers. Sometimes newly hired or promoted marketing leaders inherit a narrow vision of marketing’s contribution and unconsciously reinforce it through hiring, budgeting, and measurement decisions.  

The business develops inertia around an unspoken vision of what marketing is expected to do. In some companies, marketing assists sales, launches products, and executes tactics. In others, marketing helps shape strategy, inform growth decisions, and influence business outcomes. Whatever those expectations may be, companies tend to get the marketing they expect because expectations determine how marketing is staffed, funded, measured, and ultimately allowed to contribute to growth. 

Expectations Of Marketing Are Rarely Codified 

Many leadership teams never stop to examine whether their expectations of marketing match the contribution they want marketing to make. Executives often pursue faster growth, stronger customer relationships, greater market awareness, and improved business performance while maintaining a constrained vision of marketing’s role. Leadership teams that want marketing to contribute more may need to reconsider what they expect from the function in the first place. 

In my recent report, Exposing B2B Marketing’s Purpose Gap, I observed that nearly half of B2B marketing leaders surveyed said that their company views marketing primarily as a support or promotion function. Yet almost all of those same leaders believe marketing should operate as a strategic partner or the company’s growth driver. What’s more, I observed that companies where marketing is viewed as a strategic partner or growth driver reported stronger performance against revenue goals, more positive marketer sentiment, and greater organizational stability than companies with a narrower view of marketing’s role. While the research does not establish causation, the pattern is difficult to ignore.

Narrow Expectations Lead To Unintended Consequences 

When leadership teams place narrow expectations on marketing, they rarely eliminate the need for the capabilities marketing provides. Instead, the work of marketing gets done by functions optimized for different objectives. Sales teams spend more time generating demand instead of converting it and developing customer relationships. Product managers spend more time creating messaging, educating prospective buyers, and engaging the market instead of focusing on product strategy and innovation.  

The consequences extend beyond operating efficiency. Marketers who want to contribute at a more strategic level often become frustrated and seek opportunities elsewhere. The result can become self-reinforcing: marketing remains limited because leadership expects less from it, and leadership expects less from it because marketing has never been given the opportunity to demonstrate a broader contribution. This explains why marketers in support and promotion environments report weaker job satisfaction sentiment, a higher intent to leave, and greater organizational instability than their peers in partner and driver environments. 

What Should You Expect? 

The answer matters because companies tend to get the marketing they expect. When expectations are narrow, marketing’s contribution becomes narrow. When leaders expect marketing to play a broader role in helping the business understand markets, create demand, build preference, and guide growth decisions, they create the conditions for marketing to contribute at a higher level. 

Schedule a guidance session with me to learn about our B2B Marketing Purpose Model and how you can develop a marketing purpose roadmap at your company, 

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